EHRC report: how fair is Britain?

This is the question posed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in its 700-page anatomy of disadvantage in the 21st century. With the spending review little over a week away, the report couldn’t be more timely.

But in this report what does it say about the race penalty? In recent weeks a plethora of Black individuals from Tony Sewell, to Munira Mirza, to the ‘darling’ of the Tory conference school teacher Katherine Birbalsingh, have all argued, one way or another, that there no longer exist a race penalty in the UK.

The mountain of evidence in this report states otherwise, albeit at times nuanced.

Here are a few articles that begin to outline issues raised in the report:

• The way to a fairer Britain
• More black people jailed in England and Wales proportionally than in US
• Campaigners question why local government bosses are almost all white

What’s important is that we engage with it. Critically, I would ask you to outline what do you think should be the response to the race disadvantage from, the State, both national and local government, institutions, community groups, and individuals?

If we don’t engage by outlining solutions, our detractors - who have a whole range of proposals for us, would surely make a mockery out of fairness.

By Simon Woolley

OBV Director & Race Champion Commissioner for the EHRC